I'm Bob Bringhurst, the lead writer for the Digital Publishing Suite.

Support for DPS Apps in iOS 7 and iOS 5

Let’s start with a quick summary.

Older (pre-v24) apps don’t work on iOS 7. Any DPS app created with v24 and earlier fails to work properly in devices that run iOS 7. For one thing, landscape folios just don’t appear. If you have a v24 or earlier DPS app in the App Store, you should update it.

Known issues with v25/v26 apps on iOS 7. DPS apps built with either v27 or v28 work well on iOS 7 devices. DPS apps built with v25 or v26 have a few known issues, but nothing as serious as v24 and earlier apps.

Drop of support for iOS 5. DPS apps built with v28 and later do not work on iOS 5 devices. Apple does not allow the iPad 1 to update to iOS 6 or later, so DPS apps built with v28 or later cannot be installed on iPad 1 devices. Note that if you have a v27 or earlier app in the store and update it to v28 or later, Apple allows iPad 1 users to download the older version of the app.

Let’s go over these details . . .

Updating v24 Apps

If you have an app in the store that’s v24 or earlier, it’s not going to look right on iOS 7 devices. You should update your app.

If you used a Single Edition license to build your app, the easiest solution is to subscribe to the full version of the Creative Cloud (if you haven’t done so already), update your apps, and then decide whether you want to continue your subscription. If that approach doesn’t work for you, contact an Adobe representative (or leave a message in the DPS forum) to help you with update options.

Issues with v25/v26 Apps on iOS 7

The following issues affect v26 and earlier DPS apps displayed in iOS 7. These issues have been resolved in v27 and later.

The offline entitlement banner may not display properly after switching off network connection on device running iOS 7.

Tthe sign in dialog box close control appears as an “X” in iOS 7.

On iOS 7, a pinch and zoom gesture over a vector slideshow or scrollable frame may cause the application to crash.

On iOS 7, tapping on an article from browse view may cause a partial view of the adjacent article to appear.

On iOS 7, vector slideshow and scrollable frame overlays may disappear after rotating the device.

For best results, build a v27 or later app to address these issues.

Building Apps That Support iOS 7

Apps you build with v28 or later are designed to work with the new iOS 7 interface. Consider the following iOS 7 requirements when designing and building your apps:

iOS 7 requires the system bar to be displayed in apps. When you build a v28 app, the 20- or 40-pixel system status bar now appears above the top navigation bar in all views, including folio view. When users tap to display the navigation bars, more of your design area is covered. Make necessary adjustments to your article layouts.

For iOS 7, additional app icon sizes are required: 152×152 (iPad HD), 76×76 (iPad SD), and 120×120 (iPhone). These new icon files are required when you build either a v27 or v28 app in DPS App Builder.

DPS viewers include several UI changes for iOS 7. For example, the library background is much lighter than in previous versions, so check your cover images for appropriate contrast. If your app includes an article that describes how to use the app, you’ll likely want to update this help content.

(Enterprise only) With iOS 7, the custom icons in the bottom Navigation toolbar (Enterprise only) work differently. When you build a v28 app with custom toolbar icons, you no longer provide three separate icons for Up, Down, and Disabled states. Instead, you provide a single PNG file with a transparent background, and iOS 7 changes the color of the display state automatically. (These files are 30×30 and 60×60 pixels.) You no longer need to embed the text label in the navigation icon. Instead, specify text in the Icon Label field in DPS App Builder, which appears below the custom icons. If your app supports multiple languages, you can localize this text. These new icons appear in the Navigation bar only if the icon is actionable. For example, the “Viewer” button does not appear until a folio is downloaded. If enabled, the Navigation toolbar is a few pixels taller than the Navigation toolbar in previous apps (12 pixels on SD iPads, 24 pixels on HD iPads). Again, make the necessary adjustments to your layouts. For more information about these icons, see Creating DPS apps for the iPad and iPhone.

For Single Edition apps, any app you build from now on works only on devices with iOS 6 or later. You cannot create an app that works on iPad 1 devices. If you have a v27 or earlier version of your app in the store, iPad 1 users who have previously downloaded your app are prompted to install your older version. If they have not previously downloaded your app, they are prompted to upgrade to iOS 6 (which isn’t possible on iPad 1 devices). For details, see Adobe DPS Apps: Impact of iOS5 End of Life.

For Professional and Enterprise publishers, how you approach the lack of support for iOS 5 devices depends on several factors, including your level of commitment to iPad 1 users and the type of content you create.

With the v29 release (December 6, 2013), you can create only v28 or later apps. It is no longer possible to build v27 apps.

At some point, when new features are added that require an updated folio format, you’ll need to decide whether you want to update the folio format. When you do so, your iPad 1 customers will not be able to download the newer folio; they’ll need to obtain a device that Apple continues to support. Or, if you’re really concerned, you can create a special v27 version of the folio, but I haven’t heard of anyone planning to do that.

Again, keep in mind that there is a difference between the app version and the folio version. For example, a v28 app is required to use the Camera API feature, but only a v25 folio version is required. (That’s when the “Allow Access” option was added.) Here’s a table that shows which app version and folio version is required for these features added within the last year or so.